Radiological Research Accelerator Facility, Columbia University, 136 S. Broadway, Box 21, Irvington, NY, 10533, USA.
Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 16;10(1):19899. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76941-2.
In the long term, Cs is probably the most biologically important agent released in many accidental (or malicious) radiation disasters. It can enter the food chain, and be consumed, or, if present in the environment (e.g. from fallout), can provide external irradiation over prolonged times. In either case, due to the high penetration of the energetic γ rays emitted by Cs, the individual will be exposed to a low dose rate, uniform, whole body, irradiation. The VADER (VAriable Dose-rate External Cs irradiatoR) allows modeling these exposures, bypassing many of the problems inherent in internal emitter studies. Making use of discarded Cs brachytherapy seeds, the VADER can provide varying low dose rate irradiations at dose rates of 0.1 to 1.2 Gy/day. The VADER includes a mouse "hotel", designed to allow long term simultaneous residency of up to 15 mice. Two source platters containing ~ 250 mCi each of Cs brachytherapy seeds are mounted above and below the "hotel" and can be moved under computer control to provide constant low dose rate or a varying dose rate mimicking Cs biokinetics in mouse or man. We present the VADER design and characterization of its performance over 18 months of use.
在长期情况下，铯可能是许多意外（或恶意）辐射灾难中释放的最重要的生物活性物质。它可以进入食物链，被消耗，或者，如果存在于环境中（例如，来自放射性沉降物），可以在长时间内提供外部辐射。在这两种情况下，由于铯发射的高能 γ 射线的高穿透性，个体将受到低剂量率、均匀、全身、辐照的影响。VADER（可变剂量率外部 Cs 辐照器）允许对这些暴露进行建模，从而避免了内部发射体研究中固有的许多问题。利用废弃的铯近距离治疗种子，VADER 可以提供 0.1 至 1.2Gy/天的不同低剂量率辐照。VADER 包括一个老鼠“旅馆”，设计用于允许多达 15 只老鼠同时长期居住。两个含有约 250mCi 铯近距离治疗种子的源托盘安装在“旅馆”的上方和下方，可以在计算机控制下移动，以提供恒定的低剂量率或模拟老鼠或人体内铯生物动力学的变化剂量率。我们介绍了 VADER 的设计及其在 18 个月使用期间的性能特征。
